Safe
by Shedemei
Summary: While waiting for Finn to regain consciousness, Rey forms a bond with Leia. Featuring aroace!Rey as Leia's queerplatonic partner.


Safe

Summary: While waiting for Finn to regain consciousness, Rey bonds with Leia. Featuring aroace!Rey becoming Leia's queerplatonic partner.

Disclaimer: Star Wars belongs to… _ugh._ Well, at least Disney isn't outright homophobic, despite the de-canonization of okay let's not go there.

Pairings: Rey/Leia

Author's Notes: I totally see Rey as aroace/aroace spectrum. And I have been shipping Rey with Leia in multiple ways ever since that feels-inducing hug at the end of TFA.

* * *

Rey has felt a connection with General Organa since the moment she laid eyes on her. Rey could sense the general's grief radiating from her like a solar flare, too hot, burning, painful. The sensation cooled when Rey was drawn into a tight, desperate embrace. It lasted a long time. Rey is hurting from witnessing Han Solo's death; had she not been able to sense it, she couldn't even imagine the pain Leia was feeling over it.

That night, Rey can't sleep, worrying about her dear friend unconscious in the infirmary. She can sense an undercurrent of low-level stress and sadness emanating from all the members of the rest of the base's inhabitants, like a sludgy pollutant contaminating a once-clear stream. Somewhere not far away, there is the hot, stabbing pain of Leia's grief.

Rey gets up and wanders. It's strange, to have a place to wander that feels completely safe, although she has always been able to avoid or get the drop on other scavengers that might pose a threat to her; she wonders now if that was an early sign of her sensitivity to the Force.

Her wandering takes her past a door that opens to reveal General Organa, dressed in military-issue pajamas that are clearly too big for her, folded at the wrists and ankles. She is so small within them that she appears to barely exist at all, even as she reaches for Rey's hand and Rey can sense her desperation, her loneliness. Rey looks into the other woman's eyes, so dark brown that in the low light they look almost black, and doesn't want to refuse as she is guided into the general's quarters.

Rey isn't accustomed to sleeping in a bed, much less with another person in her arms, but the military issue bunks are stiff enough that the hard mattress feels familiar, and now Leia's anguish has faded. After Leia tells Rey that her presence is soothing and asks that Rey use her first name, she falls asleep, and Rey soon follows suit.

* * *

Leia tells Rey that it is easy to sense Rey's concern for Finn and that while the Resistance has just been dealt a horrible blow, so has the First Order. She allows Rey to stay at the base for another week to wait for Finn to recover…and to eat healthily for a few days before being sent to try to retrieve Luke Skywalker. The galaxy is counting on her, and she needs to be healthy. Rey learns that the galley crew have been given orders from General Organa herself to ensure that Rey gets not only sufficient nutrition for each meal, but enough that Rey's body can become stronger after years of near or actual starvation.

At first, Rey eats the food ravenously and her body does not know how to handle it. Leia holds her as she vomits and then cries over the waste of the food and the kindness she is being shown, brushes off Rey's apologies as unnecessary—she has done nothing wrong—and shows Rey how to pace herself when eating.

The Leia shows Rey the hydroponics bay, and then the garden. Rey weeps again at the sight of food: green stems and leaves and brightly colored fruits, and parts that Rey can't name. She runs her fingers through the rich soil, feeling how moist it is. She presses her cheek to the cool, damp soil cupped in her hands, and then does the same with many of the leaves (except for the ones Leia tells her to be careful with), and smells everything. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she can sense the gathering crowd; some are puzzled, some are charmed, most are curious. Leia stays near Rey as she explores, always resting a hand on her shoulder or the center of her back. Rey isn't used to physical contact and thought it would bother her, but with Leia, she wants more.

On Rey's second night in the Resistance base, she doesn't wander to Leia's quarters; she walks there deliberately. Leia opens the door for her before she can knock and embraces her. Rey presses her face into Leia's soft hair and kisses the top of her head because it feels right, and she knows it feels right for Leia too. Rey likes the way it feels when the other woman's lips touch the base of her neck.

Rey likes the way it feels even better when, before they fall asleep, Leia asks "May I kiss you?" even though they can both sense that the answer is "yes", and then Leia inches closer and gives Rey a tiny good-night kiss.

* * *

Rey likes the way Leia holds her when she kisses her. She cups Rey's head in her hands, her thumbs in front of Rey's ears and the rest of her fingers behind them, fingertips sliding into Rey's hair. She doesn't pull Rey close or restrain her; her touch is relaxed. Her lips are soft and so are her kisses.

It makes Rey pay closer attention to this woman she's bonding with. She notices things. Small things, like how the strands of dark hair that come loose from her braid seem to glow gold when the light hits them. Her hands are small and compact—her presence is imposing; it's always a surprise to Rey how small the general is—and she wears a gold ring with two purple stones on the fourth finger of her right hand. Those small hands are amazingly quick and adept at braiding hair, and Rey watches her in fascination when she fixes her own hair in the mornings. Her voice has a pleasant smoky quality to it that Rey likes hearing. Her eyebrows are—Rey can think of no other way to put it—perfect.

Rey watches Leia carefully whenever she can. Her high cheekbones. Her graceful neck. Her soulful, sad, dark eyes. Leia. _Leia._

When she cries, her eyelids grow red and swollen, and it takes a while for them to return to normal, and she grows short-tempered with people who treat her differently when it is obvious that she has been crying. When Rey kisses Leia and feels her own face grow wet with Leia's tears, Rey holds her tighter and says nothing.

Sometimes, though, Rey can tell that Leia is frustrated with herself for feeling weak and being too consumed by the agony of her recent loss to console Rey over the loss of the hope that her family will return to Jakku for her. At these times, Rey kisses Leia's hair and murmurs "You make me feel safe."

Rey begins to notice other things. There doesn't seem to be an actual regulation against displays of affection that could be seen by others, but anything more than a handshake while one or both of the participants was on duty seemed to be frowned upon. But Rey frequently has seen people kissing—on the lips, but very different from the way she kisses Leia—when neither of the participants are on duty, and she is confused by what she senses from them. Sometimes she senses a feeling of deep care for each other, which is less confusing, and sometimes she senses a feeling of hunger that seems almost violent to Rey, which is incredibly confusing. And it is frightening when she feels it directed at her, which it is, especially now that she has been provided with clothing other than what she scavenged. (Leia tells her she actually quite liked what Rey had worn before; she says she had expected a scavenger to look "scruffy", but Rey looks "put together" and "adorable, if maybe a little rough around the edges".) Considering her mechanical skills and experience, Rey has been given duties repairing X-wings, inspecting the freighter that Poe Dameron had stolen in order to try to glean more information about the First Order's technology for the Resistance, and retrofitting the _Millennium Falcon_ so it isn't trackable. She dresses in clothing appropriate for the work she has assigned, and for reasons she doesn't understand, this draws a number of people on the base that aren't mechanics to watch her. If she were still ignorant of her Force sensitivity, she would have presumed they were impressed with her skill at machine repair, but she feels that strange, confusing, intense hunger from so many of them. It makes her feel like a feed animal being inspected before sale.

Rey is even more confused when Leia tells her that she should feel free to "be with" (which, as far as Rey can understand it, means "kiss and bond with") others and she shouldn't feel "limited" by the bond that is burgeoning between the two of them. Rey doesn't want to kiss and bond with anyone but Leia, at least not at the moment. On Jakku, danger was everywhere, often over the next sand dune, at the closest trading stall. Leia is her sanctuary. Why would she want to feel like she is in danger again?

* * *

Rey's little corner of Jakku had been overwhelmingly populated by male or genderless aliens, or aliens of other genders that Rey couldn't identify. Rey has never seen so many humanoid women all in the same place before. She's not even sure she has ever seen so many women all in the same place before, humanoid are not, but there are so many different body types; towering, half Rey's height, skeletal, hugely fleshy, brown-skinned, blue-skinned, orange-skinned, covered in black scales, covered in green scales, four-armed, two-armed, six-legged, three-breasted, six-breasted, no-breasted, curly hair, cropped hair, waist-length hair, no hair…and they are all beautiful. Rey is fascinated by all of the loveliness and diversity, and she finds herself staring. Sometimes she is caught staring, though, and whoever she is looking at often does things she doesn't understand, like striking a pose or pantomiming undoing the fastenings on their clothing.

She asks Leia what is happening. Leia seems surprised that Rey hasn't figured it out, but Rey doesn't know what to think when Leia says she's "attractive" and that many of the members of the Resistance are "attracted" to her. Is that what that frightening hunger is? "Attraction"? Rey feels something a little like that from Leia, but there is a tenderness to it; it doesn't scare her, it flatters her. When Rey asks Leia "do you feel this 'attraction' for me?" Leia laughs and blushes (which Rey finds adorable) and says "yeah, a little".

That night, as she and Leia lie close, Rey tries to relax enough to get a full reading on Leia's feelings for her. She is deeply uncertain as to what it feels like to be loved. She imagines it feels something like what Leia feels for her.

* * *

The tactician's name is Eenwa Kooni'ra and she is a beautiful purple-skinned Twi'lek. One of the other mechanics has told Rey that Eenwa is a former slave rescued by General Organa herself from a First Order colonel. Eenwa is a brilliant strategist and learned much from her former master (without his knowledge), but as she was a slave all her life, she is still learning what life is like with free will. Rey, also an outsider, connects with her immediately, and is intrigued to know that Leia is known as "The Huttslayer" among the Twi'lek. Eenwa's "attraction" to Rey is still frightening, but Rey figures it is only because she is so unfamiliar with both her newly discovered Force abilities and being found attractive.

Eenwa's lips look full and soft, and Rey hopes that kissing her will be like kissing Leia. But it isn't, not at all. Eenwa's kisses are hungry and she presses her body hard against Rey's, pinning Rey between herself and a wall. Rey doesn't like the sensation of Eenwa's tongue in her mouth, but is that her fault? Is that something she should learn to like? Rey can't find the words to ask what is going on and why she doesn't like it, wondering if she should wait until she starts enjoying it, but then Eenwa's hands begin sliding up her shirt. "Wait," Rey gasps. "Don't."

Eenwa retreats immediately, moving her hands away from Rey's body. "Did I hurt you?" she asks.

Rey slides down the wall against which she had been pinned until she is sitting on the floor, struggling not to cry, saying "I don't know". Eenwa looks alarmed and stammers out an apology before scuttling off, and Eenwa is barely out of the cargo bay before Leia is there at Rey's side.

"I sensed you were in distress. I'd have felt it half a galaxy away. What happened? Did Eenwa hurt you?" Rey almost jumps at the steel edge in Leia's voice. Protectiveness rolls off her in waves.

"No." Rey manages. She is glad Leia is there, but why would she feel such distress from kissing a beautiful woman? "What's wrong with me? Leia, what's wrong with me?"

"Nothing. Nothing is wrong with you." Leia is a full fifteen centimeters shorter than Rey, but she has no problem lifting Rey and carrying her to her quarters. Leia knows that Rey is used to the heat of Jakku and doesn't like blankets, so when she lays Rey down on her bed, she kisses Rey's forehead instead of covering her with a blanket. She produces a handkerchief from a pocket of her vest and wipes away Rey's tears while telling her gently that Rey's evening meal will be sent to her and almost teasingly that she had better eat it all.

* * *

Rey wishes Finn were awake. She wants to talk to him. He has been a stormtrooper all his life, even more cut off from any kind of romantic or sexual or loving contact than Rey. Rey can sense that the pilot, Poe Dameron, who is the only person who has been to the infirmary to visit the unconscious Finn more times than Rey, feels "attraction" to Finn. Rey can't tell if that doesn't unnerve her because it isn't directed at her or because she senses a similar kind of warmth and gentleness from Poe as she does from Leia.

That evening, Rey leaves her quarters to be with Leia. She wants to visit Finn, to try to reach him through the Force, but she tried that once when he was first brought to the infirmary and Leia recommended that she not try it again without more training and assured Rey that Finn was getting excellent medical care. Leia senses her coming as always and embraces her warmly at the door. Rey wants so badly to ask if Leia knows what went wrong with Eenwa earlier that day, but all she can get out is "What happened today?"

"I might ask you the same thing." Leia's voice is mournful. "Rey, I didn't mean you _should_ find someone else. I meant you should feel free to if you want to."

Rey says she wanted to understand, but is only more confused. The question "What's confusing you?" is barely out of Leia's mouth before Rey goes from being barely able to form words to the words spilling uncontrollably from her lips; the alien-ness of this "attraction" feeling even when she feels it from another human, her fear, her puzzlement, her sinking half-realization that something must be defective in her if she cannot feel for these other people what they feel for her, even though she is fascinated by the other Resistance women.

Leia cradles Rey's face in her hands and gives her one of those soft kisses that makes Rey feel light and relaxed and content all throughout her body. She tells Rey, again, that there is nothing wrong with her, then walks to where a small mirror hangs on the wall and removes all of the pins from her hair. She shakes her head and her long hair spills down her back, the braid pattern remaining in it as if it had been crimped by tank treads. Rey feels strangely like she has just watched Leia disrobe, even though all she has done is take down her hair, and for a moment fear lances through Rey and she wonders if what happened with Eenwa is about to repeat itself.

Leia gives Rey a reassuring smile—just a small one; Rey has never seen a smile on Leia's face that is more that a slight upturn of the corners of her mouth—and extends a hand to Rey. The hand is holding a hairbrush. "Rey, will you brush my hair?"

On the edge of comprehension, Rey walks over to Leia, who sits on the bed. Rey sits behind her and begins carefully working the brush through Leia's soft, thick hair. It feels wonderful sliding over her hands, and she begins working the few tangles from Leia's hair with both her free hand and the brush. Leia makes a soft noise of contentment and tilts her head back, eyes closed. Rey spends a long, long time brushing Leia's hair, even after it is smooth and glossy. Eventually Rey puts down the brush and lays her hands on Leia's shoulders. "Is that enough?"

In response, Leia murmurs "Thank you", then picks up the brush and begins taking Rey's hair out of its three small buns. Rey turns around and allows Leia to return the favor by brushing her hair in long, gentle strokes, using her fingers to work out the tangles. Leia occasionally pauses to kiss Rey's scalp. The feelings Rey senses from her are warm and soothing.

Leia plaits Rey's hair into a single loose braid to keep it from tangling while she sleeps, and then kisses Rey good night. Rey sleeps peacefully until morning.

* * *

Leia is bleary-eyed and slow moving in the mornings, as if her mind is not awake yet but her body is going through the motions of waking up. Rey watches her brush her hair mechanically and asks if she can be the one to brush Leia's hair. Leia's eyes brighten slightly and she hands the brush to Rey. Leia has to (gently) chide Rey for brushing Leia's hair for too long after all the tangles have been worked out, then asks Rey if she would braid it.

Rey isn't certain whether or not Leia is joking. She sounds almost teasing, but Rey isn't used to hearing her talk when she is genuinely content. So Rey thinks back to the times when she has watched Leia fix her own hair and tries to copy what she did. Her hands, so quick with machines, are clumsy with Leia's thick, soft hair. She thinks about how different repairing an engine is from braiding hair and it isn't until she hears Leia laugh that she realizes she voiced the thought. Leia's laugh is a warm, full-throated sound, and Rey likes hearing it and doesn't feel mocked. She asks Leia to get the braid started for her; Leia does, and Rey manages to finish it. Rey thinks it looks lopsided and pathetically unlike Leia's usual pristine hairdos, but Leia kisses her gently and tells her she's going to wear it anyway. Rey makes a mental note to practice braiding her own hair so she can do a better job with Leia's next time.

Rey can't look at Eenwa during chow. But Eenwa finds her and asks if she is okay and can explain what happened the previous day. Rey knows what Eenwa went through—nobody talks about it, but everyone _knows_ —during her time as a slave, and the fear rolls off Eenwa in waves, the fear that her experience made her hurt Rey.

"You didn't hurt me," Rey says. "I panicked. I hadn't been kissed or touched like that. It wasn't your fault."

Rey is certain that even if she weren't Force sensitive, she would notice Eenwa's palpable relief. Now she's curious. She clearly wants to know what exactly Rey and Leia have gotten up to, but is hesitant to ask such questions about General Organa. But before she can voice her thoughts, a commotion distracts them both. One of the pilots gets up from the table and bolts from the galley. Rey recognizes him; it's Poe Dameron. Whispers rippling through the galley confirm what Rey is wondering: Finn is awake. Rey is up and running before she knows what she's doing.

Leia either has been the first to be informed that Finn was conscious or the first to sense it, as she is already at Finn's bedside, telling him that he will be commended for his courage and service to the Resistance. She looks up at Rey and Poe spilling into the infirmary, murmurs, "Your friends are here", and wisely (and quickly) gets out of the way. Rey and Poe find themselves each holding one of Finn's hands. Both of them tell him how worried they were and kiss his face. He's only just now fully conscious and he says both of their names.

In the midst of the joyful reunion, Rey senses a low, throbbing sadness. She looks over at Leia, who has a tiny smile on her face. Rey wonders how much sadness that smile has hidden over the years.

Finn is awake, but he can't say much besides immediately asking if Rey is all right—the last thing he remembers is trying to fight Kylo Ren using Luke Skywalker's old lightsaber while Rey was injured—and how glad he is to see both of them. He tires quickly and the doctor, a Mon Calamari woman with an iron will, shoos Rey and Poe away from Finn so he can rest. Rey doesn't want to leave him after waiting for days that felt like months, but she can sense that he needs more rest.

And then there is Leia. Rey almost flinched at the sharp pain she felt from Leia when Finn mentioned that he had been fighting with Kylo, and there's still that edge of sorrow when Leia looks at Rey. Rey wonders if Leia thinks that, now that Finn is awake, suddenly Rey will have no use for their relationship. Or perhaps she is thinking of how Rey has to leave now that Finn is out of his coma. Rey is quickly finding that one of the hardest parts of her Force-sensitive empathy is that she can't always identify why it is that someone is feeling what they are feeling. Either way, Rey takes Leia's hand, leads her out of the infirmary, and kisses her over and over and over. They hold each other for a long time, Leia resting her head on Rey's shoulder, and eventually Leia brushes her lips against the base of Rey's neck and murmurs "Thank you".

* * *

The galaxy needs Rey, Leia has said. She may be the only one who can convince Luke to come home, and while Rey thinks Luke might listen to his own sister, Leia's responsibilities have quadrupled with the destruction of the Senate. Rey has had her chance to talk to the now conscious Finn; she is leaving to find Luke Skywalker at the first Jedi temple in the morning. It is her last night with Leia. It may be her last night ever with Leia.

Rey goes to Leia's quarters shaking and afraid. She thinks of what Eenwa wanted of her. What she thinks Leia might want of her. She believes she knows what she is supposed to give Leia. Leia greets her at the door with a warm embrace as always, but this time she is still dressed and apologizes for the delay as she steps behind her closet door to change into her pajamas. Rey trembles as she disrobes and climbs into the bed where she has slept safely the past few nights. Back on Jakku, letting someone see her in this state automatically meant she was willing to go to their bed (or tent, or whatever) in exchange for a few quarter portions. She didn't want Leia thinking of her that way.

Leia is surprised when she sees Rey's nakedness, and she laughs and says "If you were too hot, you could have asked me to adjust the temperature." But when Rey tries to drop the sheet and but can't get up the courage, Leia immediately sobers. "What's wrong?"

"Isn't this what you want? What I'm supposed to do?" Rey whispers.

Leia goes to her closet and walks back to the bed with a plain cloth robe, the kind one might put on after a bath (a concept Rey is now barely familiar with), which she hands to Rey. Rey takes it and squirms into it as Leia sits down beside her.

"So what made you think you had to sleep with me?" Leia asks, sitting down beside Rey. Rey lies down with her head in Leia's lap.

"From what I can…sense, it seems to be what people who are together do," Rey murmurs.

"You're so strong with the Force," Leia murmurs. "You're like a beacon of light to me. I know how isolated you have been. But that doesn't mean you have to copy what you sense." Leia undoes Rey's buns and sifts one hand through the loose hair.

"It's our last night together for a while," Rey murmurs. "Is there…anything else…?"

"Why don't you tell me if there's anything _you_ want?" Leia's voice is low and gentle.

Rey closes her eyes. "I don't know my options."

"I'm going to take a wild guess and say you haven't ever had your shoulders rubbed?"

"No, but I would like to try that."

Leia starts out with Rey's hands instead of her shoulders, occasionally brushing her lips against Rey's knuckles. Rey has scavenger's hands, rough and scarred. She is glad she had been using the hand lotion Leia gave her, though; the skin of her hands is no longer so dry it is cracked and bleeding.

Soon, Rey forgets about being self-conscious. Leia's skilled hands massage Rey's wiry arms, fingertips brushing almost sorrowfully over the hollows at Rey's joints that would be filled out if she were properly nourished, then move to the base of Rey's neck. The pressure of Leia's strong, steady hands on her body feels nothing short of amazing, and by the time Leia has finished giving Rey's entire back a rubdown, Rey is sprawled face down on the bed with her robe half off, feeling more relaxed than she has in years. Her back, arms, and hands feel sore, but it's a pleasant soreness.

"Let me guess: you enjoyed that," says Leia, brushing a back-handed caress down Rey's spine.

"Oh, Leia," Rey sighs, words temporarily escaping her.

Leia chuckles. "I'll take that as a yes." She lies down on her side, curled lightly against Rey, one hand still resting between Rey's shoulder blades. Rey turns so she is facing Leia and their foreheads touch, then asks "Do you want me to…to try doing that? For you?"

"If you want." Leia looks up at Rey. Her expression is hopeful, or maybe Rey only perceives it that way because she can read Leia's feelings so well now.

Rey's verbal response sticks in her throat, so she choses to reply by sliding one hand beneath Leia's oversized (wasn't it possible to get pajamas that fit for the _general herself_?) pajama top and finding the slight hollow near the base of Leia's spine with her fingertips.

Rey tries to copy what Leia has done for her. It is more difficult than she expected; she is used to working with her hands, but on machines, not soft human flesh. She eventually learns how to work her hands over the natural curves and lines of Leia's back, but is stymied when she reaches an old injury (probably from an X-wing malfunction while Leia was piloting; Rey could tell from the calluses on Leia's hands which models she used to fly) that has deformed the flesh of Leia's back. When the muscles in her back flex, the malformed hill of muscle encapsulated by a shiny pink scar twitches. Rey leans over until her forehead is touching Leia's warm skin, trying to make sense of Leia's muddled feelings. She's afraid Rey is judging her, ashamed of how time has taken its toll on her small body, frustrated with herself for being ashamed…and she doesn't like that Rey is hesitating.

Rey kisses Leia's shoulder and kneads the taut muscle of the old injury with the pads of her fingertips. Leia moans into the pillow and her fingers dig into the mattress; it hurts, but she doesn't want Rey to stop.

So Rey doesn't stop. She massages the tension out of the deformity in Leia's back, her ears telling her that she's hurting Leia, her Force sensitivity telling her Leia is tacitly saying _keep going, please keep going._

Eventually Leia reaches back and moves Rey's hands away. "That's enough," she says, sounding exhausted.

"Did it help?"

"Yes. Thank you."

Rey begins undoing Leia's braid; Leia sits up so Rey can take her hair down and brush it. Then Leia brushes Rey's hair and braids it into a single relaxed plait. Neither of them bother adjusting their clothing; it doesn't matter. They fall asleep tangled up in each other. Leia dozes off immediately and Rey wants to stay awake, savoring the closeness, the warmth of her partner's skin, but she's so weary and relaxed and she follows Leia quickly into slumber.

* * *

Leia has laid out some kind of jacket on the bed. Rey looks curiously up at Leia when she sees it and her jaw nearly drops.

Leia is dressed to the nines. She is wearing a dress that is…blue. That is Rey's only word for it, because there is so little on Jakku that is not a shade of gray or brown, but it's a rich, beautiful color that looks exquisite on Leia and Rey has no name for it. If she sees that shade again, she will think of it as "Leia's dress blue". Leia's hair is tied up behind her head in an elaborate bun, and Rey thinks there might be artificial color on her face, although she doesn't need it.

"You look beautiful," says Rey.

"Thank you." Leia touches the jacket on the bed. "This has been in my closet for years. It never fit right. I thought it might suit you."

It's a blue color. A different blue than Leia's dress, but paler, and Rey likes it very much. She scrambles up and puts on her discarded clothes from last night—she's no longer uncomfortable with Leia seeing her naked—and tries on the new jacket. It fits her comfortably and she likes that the sleeves are separate from the vest, because it is warm but lets her move her arms freely. Leia takes her to stand in front of a mirror and tells her she looks lovely.

Rey feels a sudden rush of affection for Leia and hugs her tightly, careful not to muss her beautiful hairdo. She has had trouble articulating her feelings to Leia before, but she doesn't now. She kisses the top of Leia's head and murmurs, "I love you."

She doesn't expect what she senses from Leia, which is a sharp pain as if she's been shot through the chest with a blaster. She holds Rey tighter, for a long time, and even if Rey weren't Force sensitive, she could tell that Leia is afraid to let her go. How many people has she sent on missions and who were killed? How many people who have respected or even loved Leia have left the Resistance base and never returned? Rey feels a stab of guilt as she realizes she may have just reminded Leia of Han.

Leia keeps her arms around Rey for a long, long time, and when she pulls away, tears are streaming down her cheeks. Rey wipes them away with her sleeve and leans in to kiss Leia. The kiss doesn't last as long as their embrace, but it lasts a while, until Leia is calm again. She says nothing, but Rey understands.

* * *

Outside the base, feet away from the _Millennium Falcon,_ Leia fiddles with Rey's new jacket. She has done everything she can for Rey. She has even made sure the _Falcon_ is stocked with as many rations as the Resistance can spare because she never wants Rey to go hungry again. Now she is powerless to do anything but make sure Rey's new clothes hang neatly.

Rey turns to walk to the _Falcon,_ but she looks back at Leia. There is one more thing left to say, something Leia actually is able to say.

"Rey," says Leia gently, "may the Force be with you."

* * *

A/N: I don't know either. Damn plot bunnies, man.


End file.
